Ripple CTO Shares Biggest Regret: Selling 40,000 ETH Too Early

Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently opened up on X about a decision that continues to haunt him. It all started when Schwartz mentioned in an X post that his biggest regrets were when he decided to lower himself to someone else's level.

An X user commented, stating, "My biggest regret was not buying more at 50 cents," referring to $XRP, which has risen about 300% since its low of $0.50 in November. At the time of writing, $XRP was trading at $2.43, having reached a seven-year high of $3.38 in January.

The X discussion furthered with Schwartz revealing that "selling 40,000 $ETH at $1.05 was pretty high on his list of regrets too," making it one of his most significant regrets in his crypto journey.

Schwartz had acquired a significant 40,000 $ETH during Ethereum's pre-ICO era. Ethereum's founder, Vitalik Buterin, had personally invited him to participate, and driven by a desire to support the project, Schwartz committed 20 $BTC without hesitation, culminating in the acquisition of the massive $ETH stash.

40,000 $ETH sold for solar panels?

The Ripple CTO previously stated that he sold the 40,000 $ETH when it reached $1 and used the proceeds to buy solar panels for a home he no longer owned. The $ETH stash was worth $100 million after.

Schwartz's tweet elicited reactions from the crypto community. Interestingly, one X user asked the Ripple CTO about the solar panels now, and some reflected on the "$100 million opportunity" missed.

The Ripple CTO has maintained openness about his crypto ownership. As previously reported, Schwartz acknowledged in an X conversation that he had sold some Bitcoin ($BTC) holdings in the past, but only to acquire additional $XRP and Ethereum ($ETH), rather than to diversify into other digital assets.

Schwartz revealed that during the pinnacle of his holdings, he had around 26 million $XRP and that he has never sold $XRP to buy other cryptocurrencies, except for maybe selling tiny quantities of $XRP for "unusual" reasons.

Similarly, in a January tweet, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed his holdings, which included $XRP, $BTC and $ETH, among a few others, while highlighting a multichain world and level playing field for all cryptocurrencies.